Shoe



Oct. 16, 1945. L P FAMOLARE 2,386,786

SHOE

Filed Aug. 10, 1945 Patented Oct. 16, 1945 UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICESHOE Joseph P. Famolare, Chesnut Hill, Mass.

ApplcationAugust 10, 1943, Serial No. 498,060

4 Claims.

This invention consists in an improved shoe of the wedge heel type andincludes within its scope a novel process of producing the same. Shoesof this type are now in demand and as heretofore constructed haverequired a great deal of special and highly skilled work which hasnecessarily been reected in the cost of the iinished shoes.

The object of the present invention is to produce a shoe of the wedgeheel type having a particularly neat and attractive appearance, sturdyand reliable structure with good wearing characteristics, and to bringabout these desirable results with minimum expense from the shoemakingstandpoint.

The process of my invention is characterized by separately constructingor preforming two principal elements of the shoe and then uniting themthrough the medium of a midsole member.

These elements comprise a forepart unit or member and a heel and countermember. The forepart unit is constructed to include a midsole of anydesired construction, an upper and a binding strip which conceals theedge of the midsole and has its margin inturned beneath the midsole. Iprefer to construct this member by stitching the edge of the upper andone edge of the binding strip by a straight needle machine to the marginof the sock lining and then uniting the sock lining to the midsole. Themidsole preferably and as herein shown includes a cushion ply in itsforepart and when this is used the inturned margin of the binding stripincludes and overlaps it.

The heel and counter member comprises a complete and preferably linedcounter pocket with its inturned flange secured in the flrst instance toa tuck and then tacked to a covered Wedger heel blank. Such a heel blankextends forwardly beyond the breast line of the counter and tapers inboth directions into conformity with the shank portion of the shoe.

Having prepared the two elements of the shoe as above outlined these maybe brought together and united by cementing the heel seat of the midsoleto the tuck of the counter portion and cementing the shank portion ofthe midsole to the tapered shank portion of the wedge heel blank.Subsequently permanent connection may be insured by the usual heelnailing operation. The shoe is completed and the inturned margins of thebinding strip and wedge heel cover concealed by cementing or otherwiseattaching an outsole to the assembled elements arranged as abovedescribed. The completed shoe presents an extremely neat and Welliinished appearance; The binding strip covers and ornaments the edge ofthe midsole and conceals its cushion ply* and is itself finished by theoutsole which conceals all raw edges that might otherwise beexposed. Thecovered midsole extends rearwardly and disappears into the counterpocket.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawing in which,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the forepart unitv or member, aportion of the binding strip being shown as turned up to expose themidsole,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the wedge heel and counter member,and

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the ylinished shoe.

In preparing the forepart unit I prefer to employ a. midsole having aheel-seat and shank portion I0 of fibre board and to splice to this aforepart of flexible fabric I2 such as rubberized duck or canvas. To theunder side this fabric ply is cemented a thick felt cushion layer IIcoextensive with the forepart of the midsole. A sock lining I3 of failleor other firm fabric is then cut out coextensive in size and shape withthe outline of the completed midsole and to the margin of this socklining is stitched a binding strip I4 and the edge of the upper I5previously cut to size. This operation may be conveniently carried outwith the assistance of a straight needle machine, the binding striporiginally being disposed wrong-side-out, overlapping the upper andsuperposed upon it. The sock lining I3 with its attached upper andbinding strip is now cemented to the face of the midsole except in theheel-seat area Where it, is left loose. The binding strip I4 is turneddownwardly and wrapped tightly about the edge of the midsole includingthe cushion ply I I and the thinner shank portion I0, and the inturnedmargin of the binding strip is cemented in flat condition to the lowerface of the midsole. In the iorepart of the shoe the margin of thebinding strip is cemented to the felt ply I I and in the shank it iscemented directly to the fibre portion I 0 of the insole. The bound edgeof the midsole consequently presents a rearwardly tapering platformeiect in the shoe.

' It Will be apparent that the iorepart unit may be prepared without theuse of any special machinery and without the exercise of any particularshoemaking skill and also without the necessity of tying up the lastexcept for the step of uniting the midsole to the sock lining and its attached parts.

The heel and counter member illustrated in Fig. 2 may meanwhile becompleted as a separate unit entirely independently of the rest of theshoe. The counter pocket comprises an outer ply I8 of faille or thelike, a lining ply I9, and a marginal binding strip nishing the exposededges of the side walls. These component parts may be assembled andmolded with the usual stiffening ply in the manner Well known in theshoemaking industry. The inturned ange of the counter portion is nowfastened by staples 2| to a stii fibre tuck 20 which is thus caused toserve as the heel seat portion of the counter. Meanwhile a wooden wedgeheel blank 23 has been covered with faille or the like and the marginsof this cover inturned over the upper and lower converging faces of theheel blank. The assembled counter and tuck comprising the iin- Iishedheel pocket are preliminarily attached to the covered wood heel blank bytacks 22 driven through the tuck into the heel blank in vthe vicinity ofthe breast line. The tapering shank portion of the blank extendsforwardly beyond the breast line of the counter pocket and the twooverlapping margins of the cover 23 are cemented together in advance ofthe forward edge of this shank portion as shown in Fig. 2.

In assembling the two members thus described the heel-seat of themidsole is introduced above the tuck of the counter and is cementedthereto, while the upper face of the shank portion of the wedge heel inadvance of the tuck is cemented to the shank portion of the midsole. Inthe shoe herein shown the tapered forward edge of the wedge heel extendsbeyond the rear edge of the cushion layer I I, thus making aparticularly smooth join. The rear end of the sock lining I3, which hasbeen left loose upto this point, is now temporarily turned back andheaded heel attaching nails 25 driven through the'heel seat portion ofthe midsole and the tuck into the wedge heel blank, thus permanentlysecuring these portionsof the shoe together,

Theshoe is completed by fastening to the bottom constituted by theforepart of the midsole member and the heel-seat and shank portions ofthe counter member, an outsole 26 of leather or composiiton. This ispreferably molded to the contour of the shank curvature and ispermanentlysecured in place by cement or other attaching means.

In the illustrated shoe the upper is shown as comprising in the forepartonly an open toe vamp, but it will be understood that thev upper rearportion of the midsole is carried inside the counter I8-I9 andconsequently the line oi.' the counter comes directly down to the heelimparting a particularly trim and neat appearance to the rear end of theshoe. This is in distinction to shoes of this general type wherein theplatform eiect has been carried about the rear end of the shoe with acumbersome and bulky eect,

Having thus disclosed my invention and described for illustrativepurposes the best embodiment thereof now known to me, I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A wedge heel shoe comprising a midsole having a forepart ofsubstantial thickness, a sock lining and a binding strip covering theedge of the midsole back to its heel seat portion, and a counter'portionenclosing the heel seat of the midsole and includinga covered wedge heelsecured directly to the counter, whereby the forepart of the shoepresents a platform effect which terminates at the breast line of thecounter, the covered` midsole disappearing within the said counterportion.

2. A platform shoe comprising a midsole of substantial thickness havinga vamp connected to its upper face and a textile binding strip enclosingits edges, a counter-pocket having side walls with their .exposed edgesiinished, and a tuck secured in the heel seat of the said counterpocket,the said midsole extending inside the counter-pocket and being securedto the tuck whereby the platform eiect of the shoe is terminated by thedisappearance of the bound edges of the midsole within'the walls of thecounterpocket. l

3. A platform shoe comprising a midsole having a cushion forepart ofsubstantial thickness and a thin ilexible shank portion, a binding stripwrapped about the marginal edge of the shank and forepart of saidmidsole and presenting a rearwardly tapering platform effect in theshoe, a vamp connected to the forepart of said midsole, and a counterportion connected to the midsole and having side walls between which the,bound edges of the insole disappear.

4. A platform shoe comprising a midsole having a thick cushion'forepartmerging rearwardly into thin fibre shank and heel-seat portions, a socklining coextensive in shape with the outline of the complete midsole, abinding strip wrapped about the marginal edge'of the shank and forepartof said midsole and presenting a rearwardly tapering platform eiect inthe shoe, a vamp connected to the cushion forepart of the midsole, and`a counter portion connected to the thin nbre shank portion of themidsole and enclosing the bound marginal edges of the shank portion ofthe midsole.

kJOSEPH P. FAMOLARE.

